Tesla enters the Hyperloop race, instantly breaks speed record

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By Matthew Griffin Future Transport 5th September 2017

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

The race to dominate the future of high speed travel is on, and Elon Musk just showed his hand

In 2013 billionaire polymath Elon Musk “gave” the world his Hyperloop idea, a concept of a train in a vacuum tube that could travel at speeds of over Mach 1, to the world – even though actually the idea first emerged in 1900’s London as a way to transport goods across the River Thames.

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Originally it was thought that Musk was “open sourcing” his idea because he didn’t have time to build it himself, what with running SolarCity, SpaceX, Tesla and all, but now, despite recent advances by the big two startups in the space Hyperloop One, who look ready to build the world’s first Hyperloop network in Dubai in 2021, and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT), it’s increasingly evident that he’s trying to commercialise the technology himself, and it’s also conceivable that he’s going to combine it with his Boring Company’s ambitions to build a network of subterranean Hyperloop tunnels under Los Angeles.

Late last week, according to Musk, his Tesla branded Hyperloop pusher, the sled that will accelerate the Hyperloop cargo and passenger pods, hit 220 mph, breaking the record set by Hyperloop One last month when they hit 192mph.

“We took the SpaceX/Tesla Hyperloop pusher pod for a spin by itself a few days ago to see what it could do when not pushing student pods (some need a push to get going, e.g. passive maglev). Got up to 355 km/h (220 mph) before things started 🔥. Kind of like racing with a tugboat. Maybe able get past 500 km/h (about half speed of sound) next month with a few tweaks or maybe tiny pieces…” Musk posted.

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The Tesla pod, while fast, isn’t anywhere near the supersonic speeds that Musk thinks are possible in the near vacuum of his test tube. Still, Musk thinks he can “get past 500 km/h,” or about half speed of sound, “next month with a few tweaks or maybe tiny pieces,” according to his Instagram post announcing the record.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.